“More women are now being diagnosed with breast cancer than ever before, and these crucial findings could ultimately help us more accurately predict who is most at risk and develop new targeted treatments.

“Many of these genes have been relatively undocumented to date and we now hope further research will untangle their exact role in breast cancer risk, and how we could use them to stop more women developing the disease.”

The study by the Institute of Cancer Research, London, is published in journal Nature Communications.

Scientists used a pioneering genetic technique called Capture Hi-C to analyse which genes interacted with 33 DNA regions known to affect breast cancer.